[CanadianM109R]

Well, I got tired of looking at the cheap silver paint covering the hub beside my polished rims, so I got out the aircraft stripper and 5 minutes later, the job was done. I used 400 grit sandpaper to smooth down the hub ready for polishing, which I will accomplish sometime this week.

Should look great with the Suzuki shaft cover that I have waiting to put on!

Pics to follow!

 

[[email protected]]

Looking forward to seeing it done.

 

[Easy E on a 9]

hub

Yes I would like to see it as well.. I just got chrome wheel on mine and that hub lookin tacky..
E

 

[CanadianM109R]

All Done!

Well, I tackled it today, and it looks great! Just like chrome. I have the suzuki shaft cover to go on now that i'm done. Next step is polishing that sh*tty looking derby cover, lol!

Here are the pics:

 

[CanadianM109R]

Actually, when you think about it, it's pretty crazy that EVERYONE has this chrome-like finish hiding under that cheap Suzuki silver paint!

Time for a few more people to break out the aircraft stripper and get busy! :bigthumbsup::bigthumbsup:

 

[Stavros]

Nice job....looks awesome..!!..:bigthumbsup:

 

[gaillarry]

I've looked everywhere for aircraft stripper - where do I find it??

 

[FIRE98]

you can pick it up at any UAP store for around $20

 

[CanadianM109R]

I've looked everywhere for aircraft stripper - where do I find it??

I got it at an auto parts store. I think it might have been napa, but I can't remember the name. In a jam, you can use the circa 1950 furniture stripper available at canadian tire too. I tried it too, and its just a little slower, but works fine.

 

[gaillarry]

Thanks, I'll have a look tomorrow.

 

[CanadianM109R]

Don't forget to tape off anything that you don't want polished, including the rim. Its easy to accidentally scuff it when you are doing the hub. Green, wide painters tape will work great for taping the rim off.

Here are the steps I used:

1) Aircraft stripper to remove the paint.
2) Sand with 400 grit wet dry (wetsand)
3) A quick sand with 600 grit (wetsand)
4) Polish with 4 or 6 inch sisal wheel with Black emery polishing bar. (I used sisal for faster cutting of the finish, but a reinforced wheel would have been OK too. Clean off residue with Mothers Aluminum polish(7.99 @ canadian tire)
5) polish with White diamond polishing bar on reinforced yellow 4-6" buffing wheel. Clean residue with mothers.
6) Done!

I Used an 11,000 rpm grinder with the 6" buffing wheel and an extension attachment that I bought from these people. They do have all the stuff you need to polish, and Princess Auto also has many of the polishing accesssories too. Here is a pic similar to my setup:

http://caswellplating.com/buffs/grinderadapter.html

 

[FIRE98]

I take it you did the same for the wheels? Are they hard to polish in the middle?

 

[Sooner 109]

That looks great!:bigthumbsup:

 

[CanadianM109R]

Thanks sooner!

To answer your question Fire, yes I did the same with the wheels. The center section is rough, so i had to sand it smooth before polishing (major pita!) but I am very happy with the results. It was so nice of suzuki to put all that aluminum under the cheap silver paint they use.

To cut down the time spent sanding the rims, the outside section can be polished easily and quickly, and paint can be applied to the center section to match the bike.

 

[FIRE98]

i did that on my old ZX12. I had factory red rims and all i did was tape off the painted center and polished the outside. Looked really cool, I have a Black 9 and i was thinking of getting the centers gloss black and polish the outsides. But that wont happen till she goes to bed this winter

 

[CanadianM109R]

i did that on my old ZX12. I had factory red rims and all i did was tape off the painted center and polished the outside. Looked really cool, I have a Black 9 and i was thinking of getting the centers gloss black and polish the outsides. But that wont happen till she goes to bed this winter

That would look nice. I don't think anyone in Ontario has done that mod yet.

 

[CanadianM109R]

Hey Larry,

Did you end up finding the paint stripper?

 

[gaillarry]

Sure did, found it at NAPA. It's going to be a rainy day project to polish the rear hub.

 

[CanadianM109R]

Sure did, found it at NAPA. It's going to be a rainy day project to polish the rear hub.

Sounds good. Just give me a yell if you need any info along the way.